What time of day for a 5 hour drive to Grandmas

We are planning a trip to my moms ( 5hr+ drive) over the holiday and are trying to decide when to leave. We haven't done this trip recently - last time was in Nov 09. At that time we drove up at night- they slept the entire way and went straight to their cribs. At that time they would both easily fall asleep in the car now- one does and the other if he is exhausted. But I don't think either sleeps very deep.

So what do we do-
Scenario #1 Evening - have dinner and baths/pj's load them into car (normal bed time is 6:30)- I'm a bit worried they will wake up if we stop for a bathroom break. No idea if they will sleep.
Scenario #2 Morning- leave EARLY 6am-stop for breakfast and get to my mom's by 11- let them play and put them down for a 1pm nap.
Scenario #3 Afternoon/Late Morning (11am-ish)- wear them out all morning. Hit the road- stop along the way stop for lunch and get to my mom's by 5 do dinner bath and bed.


Thanks for any input you can share.

Boys are 18 months old.
Normal schedule is :
6/6;30 awake in cribs
7:00- diapers/ dress/breakfast
11:00- lunch
11:30 nap ( 1-2 hours)
2:00snack
5:30 dinner
6:00 bath
6:30 bed
7;00 asleep

 

I am also planning a 6 hour drive...and I am planning on leaving an hour before bedtime.

 

We travel a lot to my mom and dad's house - a four hour drive. We've done all three of the scenarios. We've only done the early morning leave once, and I honestly think it was the worst EVER! I think they just had so much energy from sleeping all night, that the last thing they wanted was to be strapped into their car seats.

So I'd vote for either wearing them out and leaving an hour or two before nap time, or leaving an hour or two before bedtime. I find that mine are pretty entertained for an hour or so in the car... then they get crabby, and if it's at all close to nap or bed time fall asleep pretty easily.

Good luck!

 

I agree with Maggie. When we have to do a long drive (usually 3 hours max for us) - we get the energy out in the morning, have lunch then load up! They fall asleep in the car for naps and can usually handle a bit of time in the car before and after nap (but mostly before!). Sometimes we will also break up a long drive with 1 hr in the morning - stop for lunch at a park along the way for 2 hours (and try hard to wear them down) - then back in the car for nap. It makes the trip longer, but more bearable for the little people. Night drives work pretty well for us as well (especially since we also have a 4 yr old), but if it's dark when they are trying to go to sleep - the car headlights can be problematic. Put a sleepy CD in the player as well - works for us nearly every time!
Godd luck - those drives are tough on everyone.

 

I would have to vote for scenario 3...because it is possible that they might get a nap in the car, especially if you wear them out in the AM. We drove 12 hours to Michigan when our two were 17 months old and we attempted to drive overnight. The kids did well sleep wise but they did wake up every time the car stopped and we changed drivers (we changed drivers every 4 hours).
Good luck with your trip!

 

I think it really depends on if your kids will sleep in the car. My guys used to zonk out for hours, so we were good leaving at night, but now I'm lucky if they will sleep an hour. The last few times we did a long car trip (3-4 hours) we left after lunch; they dozed for an hour or so which counted as their "nap", and we put them to bed early that night. It worked really well. The other thing that works really well is our dual-DVD system; my guys turn into mouth-breathing zombies when the TV is on, so we can log hundreds of miles without a peep from them!

 

We do a 6 hour trip to my moms every few weeks and we used to go at night when they were smaller and would sleep all the time. Now we go during the day. They have their videos in the car, snacks, and toys. They can take their normal afternoon nap and before you know it's we're already there. Plus, I hated driving on the highways with all those big trucks at night. We almost got into a very back car wreck because one didn't see us and merged over in our lane. I think the day time driving is much safer and easier for all of us.

 

[quote name='Nate and Jack's Mom' date='20 August 2010 - 09:02 AM' timestamp='1282309377' post='1683772']
The other thing that works really well is our dual-DVD system; my guys turn into mouth-breathing zombies when the TV is on, so we can log hundreds of miles without a peep from them!
[/quote]

:lol: We went to the beach last week with our boys and I don't think we would have survived without the portable dvd player!! Our boys are younger than the OP's so they still take 2 naps a day. So we would get them into the van just as they were melting down for their morning nap and they would sleep an hour or so, then I would feed them snacks/read books from the third row, after which they would get pretty fussy and then I'd start the DVD player which they tolerated well for close to an hour. That allowed us to drive about 2.5 hours, then we would stop for a longish lunch (60-90 min), then get back in the van where after an hour or so they'd fall asleep again, and we would play a dvd after they woke up. A 5 hour drive split into 2.5 hour sessions was perfect for our boys, but again, their napping is probably different from your LOs. GL!

 

I would go for late morning, like scenario #3. We did a trip about that age and left just before bedtime. That had worked when they were younger and they slept the entire ride. At 18 months we tried leaving at bedtime for a 7 hour trip and they stayed awake the entire time!!! We arrived and got settled around 2 am and they had not had any sleep. They woke up at the usual 6:30 too. Needless to say, they were crabby the next day. Now I leave for trips either first thing in the morning for a long trip or late morning for shorter trips (like your 5 hours). Have fun!

 

We traveled after dinner and placed the baby in jammies! Seemed to work well for us. Haven't tried with the twins yet but we did this with my oldest and it worked well.